Compliance and creativity are not normally two words that go well together, but for Barton “Chip” Bright, the new general counsel and chief compliance officer at BillingTree, creativity is one aspect of his new job that he is looking forward to.
Bright joined BillingTree in the newly created positions in early January. He was most recently the general counsel and vice president of compliance at FactorTrust. He also previously worked at SunTrust Banks.
For Bright, this is the third time he has joined a company in a newly created position and the opportunity to create his own roadmap is an enticing opportunity.
“It’s more challenging and more interesting and really more exciting as well,” Bright said. “It’s like being an artist and having a blank canvas to work with instead of painting by numbers.”
For Bright, not only will he be responsible for BillingTree’s compliance, but will also be working on educating BillingTree employees so they can help the payment processing company’s clients be more compliant.
“We want to work both sides of the coin,” Bright said. “We want to establish a good educational and training framework for our customers. Not necessarily to give them legal advice, but to create educational and training materials for them.”
For collection agencies, that could mean working with them on their marketing materials, Bright said. Companies that emphasize that they buy charged-off debts in their marketing materials may send up a red flag to companies like Visa and MasterCard, Bright said.
“Sometimes all a regulator or a company see is what’s on your website,” Bright said.
Bright’s focus is to be as proactive as possible and work to make sure BillingTree — and its clients — prevent problems before they happen.
“It benefits BillingTree and our customers and our industry as a whole to stay out of trouble,” Bright said. “It’s about creating a culture of compliance within the organization. Making sure that in your business – making sure that you’re treating the consumer fairly.”
